Man Arrested After Five Children Found Living Among Bugs, Feces, Rotten Food

A Dallas man was arrested for child endangerment after police found five young, malnourished children living in his dangerously filthy apartment, The Dallas Morning News reported.

Police were called to the house Tuesday afternoon after a neighbor reported that they heard a baby crying for a long time with no response, police claimed.

When police knocked on the door, John Moton, 33, allegedly yelled “What do you want?” at the officers, according to the arrest warrant affidavit. When he let them inside, officers noticed that the apartment smelled strongly of feces and rotting food, making it difficult to “walk through without vomiting,” the affidavit said.

Moton allegedly refused to identify himself or the children. He refused to comply with any demands and allegedly kept one hand at his waistband, requiring an officer to use a stun gun to subdue him so they could handcuff him, the report said.

In the living room, officers found three children on a couch surrounded by feces, with a pit bull tied several feet away. Another child was in a crib, wearing a soiled diaper.

Officers reportedly found rotten food, bugs and feces scattered throughout the house, as well as a playpen set up in one closet, and blankets covered in rotten food and bugs set up as a bed in another closet.

There apparently was no food in the house that wasn’t rotting, the affidavit said.

The five children—ages 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1—were taken into Child Protective Services.

Moton was charged with five counts of abandoning or endangering a child by criminal negligence, one count of resisting arrest, and one count of failing to identify as a fugitive. Moton also had an outstanding speeding warrant.